DEMIAN BULWA/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE SAN FRANCISCO, March 25: An accused con artist and murder suspect from Nepal dubbed "the Dark Prince" has been linked to another startling caper, San Francisco police and prosecutors said Wednesday. Kaushal Niroula and three others fraudulently took ownership of three luxury condos in the city last year, then took out a $2.2 million equity loan and divided it up, authorities said. The men assumed fake identities, duped real estate agents, obtained keys and secured actual title to the condos, which are in one of the city´s tallest towers, authorities said. But the plot fell apart after the real owner of the homes at One Rincon Hill - which together are worth about $7.5 million - received mail addressed to one of the suspects, authorities said. When Shirley Hwang checked with the city, she found the fraudulent sales had already gone through. She called police, and is now suing the lender in an attempt to get it to release its interest in the properties. "The breathtaking scope, complexity and theatrics of this scam and these con men rivals any Hollywood movie," District Attorney Kamala Harris said. "Thanks to the hard work of the D.A.´s office and the SFPD, the story had the proper ending." Seven police agencies conducted simultaneous raids on six Bay Area locations Tuesday. They arrested Jay Shah, 45, of San Jose on 19 criminal counts including conspiracy and theft, and his attorney, 57-year-old Melvin Emerich of Santa Cruz, on 13 counts. Winston Lum, 45, a former San Francisco tennis instructor, had been arrested Feb. 4 and charged with 21 counts. But the most startling name to emerge in the case is Niroula, whom prosecutors referred to as "the Dark Prince." Niroula, 29, once used a student visa to move from Nepal to San Francisco, where authorities say he launched a years-long crime spree. Niroula and four other men - including attorney David Replogle of San Francisco - have been accused of murdering a 74-year-old Palm Springs retiree in December 2008 in an effort to steal his money and profit from the sale of his home. In Marin County, Niroula faces felony charges of grand theft and theft from an elder. He is accused of stealing $300,000 worth of jewelry from a 78-year-old Novato woman. In the luxury condo scam, prosecutors said, Lum forged the signature of the true owner - whom he had never met - while granting himself deed to the properties. He allegedly recorded the fake transactions with the city, then secured an equity loan from De Witte Mortgage Investors Fund in Santa Barbara. Brian Buckelew, a spokesman for Harris, said Niroula got keys to the condos from a real estate agent by pretending to be a wealthy investor and would-be renter named "Syd Jones." Before approving the loan, the bank sent representatives to see the condo. Lum took on the character of a Chinese-language speaker who knew little English, Buckelew said, while Niroula pretended to be his adviser and translator, "Joshua Beam." Lum didn´t actually speak Chinese, though, and spouted "gibberish" to the lenders, Buckelew said, adding, "It´s so beyond absurd."   Last edited: 25-Mar-10 12:54 PM